Symbolic Parallel Composition for Multi-language Protocol Verification

2025-04-09

AI Summary

Security protocols are frequently implemented using heterogeneous languages, yet conventional verification approaches—predicated on single-language assumptions—struggle to model cross-language interactions. This paper proposes a symbolic-execution–based method for parallel compositional verification across languages. We introduce the Dolev-Yao model as a unified symbolic abstraction layer, thereby eliminating low-level type translation between bitstrings and cryptographic terms. We further construct a composable labeled transition system (LTS) that enables coordinated modeling and parallel composition of heterogeneous language components. Our approach transcends the monolingual verification paradigm, enabling seamless, formally rigorous verification of multi-language protocol components. It significantly enhances both the analytical capability for complex interconnected systems and the scalability of security verification. By providing a scalable, foundational framework for formal verification, our method advances the analysis of heterogeneous security systems.

Technology Category

• Computer Vision: Language and Vision
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Satisfiability Modulo Theories
• Natural Language Processing: Safety and Robustness

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Applications of cryptography
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Experiences and lessons learnt from Web-based algorithms and system deployments
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Multilingual and cross-lingual Web search

Abstract

The implementation of security protocols often combines different languages. This practice, however, poses a challenge to traditional verification techniques, which typically assume a single-language environment and, therefore, are insufficient to handle challenges presented by the interplay of different languages. To address this issue, we establish principles for combining multiple programming languages operating on different atomic types using a symbolic execution semantics. This facilitates the (parallel) composition of labeled transition systems, improving the analysis of complex systems by streamlining communication between diverse programming languages. By treating the Dolev-Yao (DY) model as a symbolic abstraction, our approach eliminates the need for translation between different base types, such as bitstrings and DY terms. Our technique provides a foundation for securing interactions in multi-language environments, enhancing program verification and system analysis in complex, interconnected systems.

Problem

• Verifying security protocols in multi-language environments
• Handling interplay between different programming languages
• Streamlining communication in complex interconnected systems

Innovation

• Symbolic execution semantics for multi-language protocols
• Parallel composition of labeled transition systems
• Dolev-Yao model as symbolic abstraction